Banchan

Banchan refers to small dishes of food served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. This word is used both in the singular and plural. The word Banchan translated into English means side dish.

Korean BBQ Beef

The basic table setting for a meal called ‘bansang’ (반상) usually consists of bap (밥, cooked rice), guk or tang (soup), gochujang or ganjang, jjigae, and kimchi. According to the number of banchan added, the table setting is called 3 cheop (삼첩), 5 cheop (오첩), 7 cheop (칠첩), 9 cheop (구첩), 12 cheop (십이첩) bansang, with the 12 cheop used in Korean royal cuisine.

Banchan are set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the centre of the table is the secondary main course, such as galbi or bulgogi, and a shared pot of jjigae. Bowls of cooked rice and guk (soup) are set individually. Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal and are replenished during the meal if not enough. Usually, the more formal the meals are, the more banchan there will be. Jeolla province is particularly famous for serving many different varieties of banchan in a single meal.

Kimchi

See also: Kimchi Kimchi is fermented vegetables, usually baechu (Napa cabbage), seasoned with chilli peppers and salt. This is the essential banchan of a standard Korean meal. Some Koreans do not consider a meal complete without kimchi. Kimchi can be made with other vegetables as well, including spring onions, gat (갓), and radish (무; mu).

Nabak kimchi

Watery kimchi with less spicy baechu and mu

Dongchimi

Various vegetables in white brine. Nabak kimchi and dongchimi are referred to as mul kimchi (물김치), literally “water kimchi.”

Geotjeori

Freshly made kimchi to be eaten crisp without fermenting. Usually made with baechu and lettuce.